On This Day — May 20, 1989: Martial law takes effect at 10:00 a.m.: PLA units are ordered to clear Tiananmen Square and return order to the city: “Demonstrations, petitioning, class boycotts, strikes . . . are prohibited . . . [A]rmed police and People’s Liberation Army soldiers have the right to exercise any force necessary to stop or prevent any violation of martial law orders.” See HRIC chronology and resources.

March of over one million: More than one million people march in Beijing, including workers, All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) officials, journalists, doctors, and nurses. See HRIC chronology and resources.

On This Day — May 15, 1989: Foreign dignitary visit to Beijing: On this day in 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev comes to Beijing for a summit meeting with Deng Xiaoping. Instead of an official welcome on Tiananmen Square, Gorbachev enters the Great Hall of the People by a back entrance. Thousands of intellectuals, teachers and scientists march to the square. See HRIC chronology and resources.

On This Day — May 12, 1989:Hunger strike debates: In the evening, at Peking University, Chai Ling joins the efforts of students Wang Dan, Wu’er Kaixi, and six others to advocate a hunger strike as a strategy to force the government to listen to the students’ pleas. Students at Peking University in favor of a hunger strike rapidly increase in number from 40 to over 200.

On This Day — May 13, 1989:Hunger strike begins: As a result of the delay in response from the government, hundreds of thousands of students converge on the square to stage a sit-in and hunger strike. The hunger strike begins, eventually drawing over 3,000 participants. Party leaders eventually agree to a dialogue with the students’ Dialogue Delegation on May 14.